South African Minister of Communications, Yunus Carrim, inaugurated the country’s first National Cyber Security Advisory Council (NCAC ) today. The role of the NCAC will be to advise the South African government on cyber security policy and technical issues.

Cabinet passed the National Cyber Security Policy Framework in March 2012 in terms of which the NCAC was established.

Minister Carrim said that the policy framework “seeks to coordinate government’s activities on cyber security and also ensure more effective cooperation between government, the private sector and civil society in tackling cyber security threats”

“With the increasing number and sophistication of cyber security threats, including online scams, data theft, and other threats, the role of the NCAC has become more important than ever”.

He stressed that cyber security is a shared government responsibility and that several relevant departments would also be consulted regarding the advice given by the NCAC.